Abu Dhabi: A $300 million (Dh1.1 billion) lawsuit against the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority (ADIA) is one of more than 1,000 filed by Irving Picard, the trustee authorised to recover money for victims of Bernard Madoff's Ponzi scheme, industry sources told Gulf News yesterday.
They said it is virtually identical to a lawsuit filed against ADIA, one of the world's largest sovereign wealth funds, in April by Fairfield Sentry, which was one of many so-called "feeder funds" that invested in Madoff.
"Both are seeking return of the same $300 million that ADIA is alleged to have withdrawn from Fairfield in 2005 and 2006, years before the Madoff fraud was discovered. Neither claim alleges any wrongdoing on ADIA's part," a source said.
A spokesman for ADIA declined to comment on the matter.
Complaint
Reuters reported last week that Irving Picard said the fund withdrew the money from Fairfield Sentry, that had funneled nearly all its client assets to Madoff's Investment Securities LLC in a complaint on Thursday to the US Bankruptcy Court in Manhattan.
ADIA is estimated to have assets of more than $600 billion under management.
Madoff, 73, is serving a 150-year sentence in a North Carolina federal prison after pleading guilty in March 2009 to an estimated $65 billion fraud.
